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23rd INTERNATIONAL POETRY FESTIVAL OF MEDELLIN Name of project: 23º International Poetry Festival of Medellin. A project for inclusion and social, cultural and educational development through poetry and arts. Reduction of the levels of social atomization, rebuilding peaceful and creative coexistence through symbolic practices of congregation, learning, incidence and social inclusion, having their axis in the poetry and artistic actions that create development and transformation, both spiritual and cultural-educational, in the city of Medellín, five municipalities of its metropolitan area, 10 municipalities in Antioquia and ten cities in Colombia.

Executing entity: Corporación de Arte y Poesía Prometeo Name of person in charge: Fernando Rendón Position: President Section: Direction Committee URL: http://www.festivaldepoesiademedellin.org URL: http://www.youtube.com/user/revistaprometeo E-mail addresses: poetryfestivalmedellin@gmail.com ; poetryfestivalmedellin@yahoo.es; Address: Carrera 50 A #60-22, Barrio Prado Centro. Telephone: (574) 254 94 95/ 5421988/ Fax: (57 4) 2549495 City: Medellín, Colombia Project duration: September 2012 to August 2013. Sector: Arts and Culture / Socio-cultural development Performance region: Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia Beneficiaries: Approximately 120,000 people from all social strata. It is a heterogeneous audience of young people, students, workers, intellectuals, artists, executives, professionals, local poets, cultural enablers, professors, workmen, housewives, unemployed persons, children, teenagers, elderly people and people who come from other cities and countries. In general, we can affirm that the whole of society is represented in the audience that determinedly and lucidly brings its light,

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vitality and oxygen to the Festival’s events. The Festival will also have an impact on further thousands of people in other cities of the country. Other beneficiaries of the 23º International Poetry Festival of Medellín are the guest poets, the staff hired for the development of the activities, the institutions or companies necessary for the organization, and the Corporación de Arte y Poesía Prometeo. Coverage: 120 cultural scenes distributed among the 8 districts of the city of Medellín and 5 municipalities of its metropolitan area. 10 cultural scenes in its respective Antioquia municipalities and 10 cultural scenes in 10 Colombian cities. Date of performance: July 6 to 13, 2013 Total cost of the project: € $ 724.506 / US $ 986.598 / COP $ 1.790.01.702. Other contributions: Cultural Secretary of Municipality of Medellin, Ministry of Culture of Colombia, Educational Secretary of Municipality of Medellin, Prince Claus Foundation (The Netherlands), Organization International de la Francofonía –OIF- (France), Foundation Heinrich Böll (Chile), Embassy of Norway, Embassy of Switzerland, Prohelvetia (Switzerland), Foundation Alta Mane (Switzerland-Italy), Cultures of Resistance Network (United States), diplomatic delegations and other institutes for diffusion of national poetry in Europe and Asia, Public Companies of Medellín, Government of Antioquia, etc.

1. BRIEF PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

During problem analysis, the main problem detected was the vulnerability of the social fabric, which creates exclusion from the socio-cultural projects of the city of Medellín, the municipalities of its metropolitan area, the municipalities of Antioquia (the department whose capital it is) and the cities of Colombia. It is precisely due to this main problem that the Corporación de Arte y Poesía Prometeo works year after year and contributes – through social, cultural and educational action involving poetry and different artistic expressions –by building increasingly qualified audiences, able to coexist and to build the social fabric – to the transformation and development, both socio-cultural and spiritual, of the audience involved. On July 6 to 13, 2013, there will be held the 23º International Poetry Festival of Medellín (For 1000 years of Peace in Colombia). With the participation of 65 poets from 42 countries in the five continents, there will take place 120 poetry readings, 25 pedagogical activities (courses, workshops, panels and conferences) and a meeting between renowned worldwide poets and delegates from the civil society, with the aim

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of generating actions that enhance the spiritual and cultural cohesion of the Colombian social sector. Invited poets up to the moment are Jorge Fondebrider (Argentina), Les Wicks (Australia), Ali Al-Jallawi (Bahrain), Leonard Nolens (Belgium), Thiago de Mello (Brazil), Maria-Louise Sibazuri (Burundi), Werewere Liking (Cameroon/Cote D'Ivoire), Javier Bello (Chile), Jidi Majia (Popular Republic of China), Juan Manuel Roca, Santiago Mutis, Samuel Vásquez, Carlos Vásquez, Álvaro Marín, Fernando Herrera, Lucía Estrada, Tallulah Flores, Oscar González, Eufrasio Guzmán, Amparo Inés Osorio, Víctor Raúl Jaramillo, Orietta Lozano, Daniel Jimenez, Edgar Trejos, Robinson Quintero, Luis Fernando Macías, Everardo Rendón, Yolima Zuleta (Colombia), Oscar Cruz (Cuba), Gilbert Bacilio (Curacao), Antonio Preciado, María Clara Sarupi (Ecuador), Saba Kidane (Eritrea), Bewketu Seyoum (Etiopía), Gérard Noiret (France), Richard Gwyn (Gales), Monika Rinck (Germany), Josaphat-Robert Large (Haiti), K. Satchidanandan (India), Goenawan Mohamad (Indonesia), Moya Cannon (Ireland), Lorna Shaughnessy (North Ireland), Gerður Kristný (Iceland), Tiziana Cera Rosco (Italy), Lidija Dimkovska (Macedonia/Slovenia), Nikola Madzirov (Macedonia), Ernest Pépin (Martinique), Maria Augustina Hâncu (Moldavia), Javier Siciliaz, Jeannette L. Clariond (Mexico), Tanure Ojaide (Nigeria), Jan Erik Vold (Noruega), Anne Vegter (The Netherlands), Abadio Green Stocel -Manipiniktikinia- (Panama, Tule-Kuna Nation), Marco Martos (Peru), Marra PL. Lanot (Philippines), Krystyna Rodowska (Poland), Ilya Kaminsky (Russia-United States), Aitana Alberti (Spain/Argentina/Cuba), Magnus William-Olsson (Sweden), Ingrid Fichtner (Switzerland), Gcina Mhlophe, Zolani Mkiva (Southafrica), Maram al-Masri (Syria), Tahar Bekri (Tunisia), Mildred Kiconco Barya (Uganda), William Osuna (Venezuela), Nguyen Phan Que Mai (Vietnam), Sainkho Namtchylak (Tuva, Russia), Valentin Tszin (Russia). Academic activities will also take place (courses, workshops, discussion boards, debates, within the framework of the XVII Poetry School of Medellín), together with music concerts, theatrical monologues, showings of films and documentaries, sketches, performances and exhibitions. 2. SITUATION CONTEXT AND ANALYSIS

Context: (Zone of project [country, region, economy, society…]) Project zone: Country

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Name: Republic of Colombia Population: 46.7 million (2008) Capital: Bogotá Othercities: Medellín, Barranquilla, Cali, Cartagena Area: 1,141,748 km² Currency: Peso GDP per capita: $4,660 (2009) Exports: Oil, coffee, coal, emeralds, flowers, banana Language: Spanish Life expectancy: 69 (men), 77 (women) The aims of the UNDP Peace, Hope and Reconciliation department for Colombia are: “To contribute to the social construction of peace, human development, democratic governability and reconciliation, through the national and territorial support and strengthening of civil society and the State, promoting their participation in inclusive political, economic and social processes, and their ability to transform violent and conflictive scenarios and to influence the construction of public policies (national, local and sectorial)”.

2.1 Historical and social context

We live in a country that has bled to death in a war of over 40 years, which has killed half a million people, leaving the cities desolate and the countryside wasted. Our country does not know peace. After the 1819 military victory of Simón Bolívar’s

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liberating army over Spain in the independence war, and the dissolution of Great Colombia in 1830, nine great civil wars were waged in our territory during the 19th century. A change was the war against Ecuador in 1867. Then came the Thousand Days’ War from 1899 to 1902, which led to the separation from Panama and was instigated by the United States; this led to the death of 120,000 of the nascent population of 3 million Colombians. Then came the war against Peru in 1928. And a further nine great civil wars in the 20th century. A popular insurrection in 1948, with a tragic 300,000 casualties. The creation of liberal armed groups. The forming of paramilitary groups by a Senate law. A coup in 1953. Bombings on Marquetalia and countless places in the country which gave rise to the creation of the FARC guerilla group in 1964. Laso Plan. Foundation of an archipelago of rebel groups. The genocide of 4,000 leaders and militants of the Unión Patriótica, which continues to this day. The Supreme Court of Justice is bombarded by the army. Four presidential candidates are murdered in less than three years, beginning in 1987. Four million peasants and natives are displaced, and five million hectares taken from them. 150 journalists murdered since 1980; freedom of the press disappears. 12,000 Colombians are missing. Thousands of citizens kidnapped by the guerilla, which throws gas pipettes on the civil population. Several thousand trade union leaders murdered. The Colombian state accepts responsibility for the genocide before the Inter-American Human Rights Court. Colombia Plan. Patriot Plan. The fumigations imposed by the United States on the Colombian government destroy our ecosystem and our biodiversity. Over 60 senators are prosecuted for their relations with paramilitary activities. A river of blood is continuously flowing under the bridges. This is the oldest war in today’s world, and one of the longest in human history. There is no final winner in this war, but the conflict is degenerating into unheard-of levels, and the social, cultural and ethical damage to Colombian society, excluded from basic services and cultural services, is increasing.

In Colombia, three generations of youths have been lost in bloody war and violence, serving the paramilitary forces, the State, the guerilla, the drug traffic and common crime gangs. More than ever, poetry must act now, taking root in the depths of the souls of children and youths, in order to bring to the surface the unheard-of dimensions of human life through the regenerating exercise of language – in a city like Medellín, where once again paramilitary bands and mafia groups are at large and increasing the statistics of murder.

2.2 Economic context:

From the text published by the UNDP (Colombia), corresponding to the project “Millennium Development Objectives for the local area – Towards a just and inclusive Colombia”, we have taken the following quote, which explains the economic context of Colombia: “Even though indicators have improved in recent years, poverty in Colombia is still a problem affecting almost half of the population. Poverty is a multidimensional

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problem, which encompasses not only lack of income but also exclusion from access to social rights. Some regions have taken important steps for overcoming poverty; however, the country is characterized by a high level of social exclusion and by marked inequalities, not only in the income of the poor vis-à-vis that of the rich, but also in regional inequality, in the difference between urban and rural areas and in the lack of opportunities for ethnical minorities, women and displaced persons”.

2.2.1 Inequality and poverty (according to the World Bank) Colombia has one of Latin America and the Caribbean’s highest levels of income inequality, with a GINI coefficient of 0.578, which is still higher than the 2003 levels. Although poverty indexes fell from 53.7% to 45.5% between 2002 and 2009, inequality is still high. However, there is encouraging evidence that between 1997 and 2008 there were improvements in equality of opportunities for childhood, as shown by the Human Opportunity Index of the World Bank, which measures the coverage of the basic services necessary for childhood, with adjustments relating to distribution equity within the general population. During the last decade there have been significant improvements relating to the opportunities children have of receiving health services and preschool attention, completing their primary and secondary school studies and having access to electricity and telephone services. Even though some very important challenges persist (with regard to food safety, nutrition, education quality, access to water services and persecution), it is expected that the improvement in equal opportunities will eventually translate into lower levels of poverty and inequality for future generations of Colombians.

2.2.2 Priorities (according to the World Bank)

Colombia is still facing important challenges which require great reforms in the country in order to consolidate a higher, more sustainable and inclusive economic growth. There is an urgent need to reduce poverty and inequality, to narrow the disparity between regions, to consolidate the peace and development process, to deal with people displaced by violence, to improve the deficient infrastructure, and to modernize the public administration and the delivery of services.Key challenges for the private sector include limited access for financing (in the border regions and rural areas) the bottlenecks in infrastructure, education quality, and the new markets. To achieve a sustainable peace agreement is another priority for the social and economic development of Colombia. The government estimates, however, that putting a final end to violence will require the effort of several administrations.

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SPECIFIC PROJECT ZONE: MEDELLÍN, ITS 16 DISTRICTS

Region: Antioquia –Colombia City: Medellín Population: 2,249,073 Women: 1,197,971 Men: 1,051,102 Political-administrative distribution: Districts (urban zone): 16 Mayoralties (rural zone): 5

2.3 Social context of project zone (Medellín):

With regard to the social situation, it is relevant to present a part of the communiqué which was published by 12 important human rights, social, trade union and university organizations on September 3, 2010:

“Historically, a relevant number of districts located in the periphery of the city have been characterized by high levels of exclusion and marginality, a situation which has endured due to the lack of timely and efficient state intervention for the protection of the inhabitants’ rights. This structural context of historic failings is aggravated by crossfire of multiple violent dynamics, with the participation of state and semi-public forces, armed groups connected to the national political armed conflict, and criminal organizations dedicated to different illegal activities.

As a consequence of the above, the inhabitants of these communities have been subject to serious human rights violations, especially in the case of the dwellers of

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districts 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, and 13. This situation has become worse in the last two years, due to the failure of the process for the demobilization of the paramilitary groups in the city, and the struggle for social and territorial control carried out by these semi-public, demobilized and drug-dealing armed groups for the obtainment of hegemonic power in these areas”.

We present an extract from the report submitted by the Human Rights Metropolitan Commission of the city of Medellín on May 2, 2011: “The human rights and IHL problem and crisis experienced today by a relevant part of Medellín’s population, and especially children and teenagers, cannot thus be reduced to the existence of what the government calls ‘emergent bands’ or ‘Bacrims’, which fight for the control of drug micro-traffic in a territory. The structural and context conditions expressed in marginality and a high unemployment rate, among others, persist in many sectors of the city, and it is in that context that the different violations of the human rights of children and teenagers take place”.

3. BACKGROUND The origins of the International Poetry Festival are directly linked to all the history preceding us, as a nation that has struggled in intricate socio political conflicts from the colonial times to our own days. It could be said that the Festival arose as an answer to all the attacks on the human spirit that have taken place in a context of 45 national civil wars that have plunged us into fratricide and genocide in the course of two centuries. In 1991, the International Poetry Festival of Medellín was created to stand against all the horror of our history, materialized in the fratricidal violence unchained by the clash of different warring powers. Medellín acquired the stigma of the world’s crime capital. The population was completely silenced and hidden. Political murders were everyday news. The streets were the scene of massacres. Bomb attacks, selective murders. Every day there were dead people, many of them anonymous, adding up to a terrifying, nightmarish atmosphere. In the face of this horror, the poets gathered around the Prometeo Latin American poetry magazine proposed a lucid and coherent answer: the creation of a poetry festival as reaffirmation and celebration of life – as a way of resisting and creating in the face of a culture of slaughter, promoted by dark, chaotic forces. Thus was created the committed and constructive participation of an audience that has become increasingly qualified in the course of two decades. The Festival’s organic movement has materialized in its growth, both quantitative and qualitative. Year after year, the Festival has qualified itself and grown in its spiritual level and in its achievements as a poetry action that strongly influences society. In this perspective of fulfilled aims, genuine world recognitions came, such as the Alternative Nobel Prize, awarded to the Festival in 2006 in the Swedish Parliament.

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This recognition shows that the Festival’s history has been a route, a standard to be followed in the world scenario of nations who need spiritual oxygen to defeat the asphyxia of oppressive and socially turbulent conditions. In 2009, too, a law of the Republic of Colombia declared the Festival a part the National Cultural Heritage. The Festival has received the National Congress’s highest decoration, two decorations from the Council of Medellín and one from the Medellín City Hall. The International Poetry Festival of Medellín has grown into the most important poetry festival at a worldwide level, as confirmed both by the guest poets and even by the directors of other festivals; this is why it is intended to promote the cohesion of the International Poetry Festivals of countries in the five continents. This action also characterizes the Festival as a pioneering event in the globalization of poetry for the benefit of both the world poetic expression and the social groups which give a meaning to the scheduled activities. From 1991 to our own days, twenty-one issues of the Festival have taken place, accruing an experience unequalled in world poetry and going from a project with a US$ 1,000 budget in 1991 to almost US $700,000 in 2010: from 13 participating poets in the first issue of the event to over 1,000 poets from 157 countries throughout 21 years – a circumstance which has given the organization many accrued experiences which have enabled it to inspire, propose and help in the creation of similar festivals in Venezuela, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru, Cameroon and New Zealand, among others. The organization has also led the creation of the Continental Network of International Poetry Festivals of Latin America. In the context of the twenty-first poetry festival, there was achieved the creation of the world poetry movement (WPM), founded within the framework of the World Meeting of the directors of 37 international poetry festivals, held in Medellín, Colombia, on July 4 to 8,2011. Our webpage currently receives 1,300 to 1,500 visitors, and the website of Prometeo Magazine on YouTube has been recognized by 1,250,000 people in the last four years. There a discussion was held on the relationship between poetry and peace, the reconstruction of the human spirit, the reconciliation with and recovery of nature, the peoples’ unity and cultural diversity, material destitution and poetic justice, and the possible actions to be carried out for the globalization of poetry actions.

3.1 Entities that have supported Prometeo’s projects

Culture Secretariat of the Municipality of Medellín/Education Secretariat of the Municipality of Medellín/Colombian Ministry of Culture/ Hivos Institute (Netherlands)/DÖEN Foundation (Netherlands)/Cordaid (Netherlands)/ Poetry International (Netherlands)/NOVIB (Netherlands)/ Prince Claus Foundation (Netherlands)/ Francophone Agency (France)/ France Libertés Foundation

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(France)/Heinrich Böll Foundation (Germany)/ German Cooperation Agency (GTZ)/ Swiss Government / Swiss Embassy in Colombia/Prohelvetia (Switzerland)/ Spanish Agency for Cooperation Towards Development (AECID)/ Alta Mane Foundation (Switzerland-Italy)/ Ramón Llul Institute (Barcelona)/Caipirinha Foundation (United States)/

3.2. Achievements of the Festival as enablers elements of a new cycle of global and multicultural poetic actions toward a new humanism for the socio-cultural development of mankind in the 21st century. 3.2.1 Internationalization A significant evolution has transformed Medellin in a poetic centre worldwide. The movement of poets from five continents (from 150 countries), to be dynamic part of the Festival activities, has allowed the city to be nourished with the plurality of cultures, languages, expressive forms and trends of poetry, embodied in authors who come from distant lands and people with their local air expressive virtues, transforming the city into a true center light, symbolizing brotherhood and collective spiritual growth. This highly emotional interaction, lucid and infused with poetry, has an impact sublime poets highly processed before returning a miraculous experience, exist in their countries of origin. In this context it is relevant to recall that the Festival experience has inspired the creation of new festivals in various cities in both Colombia and Central America, South America and the world. This will constitute an intercontinental network of festivals that impact positively on the cultural and spiritual future of the peoples of the world. 3.2.2 Globalization of poetic action The Festival is the centre of convergence of cultures, a planetary level, gives a character of globalization of the poetic experience. This has implications for determining a new future of poetic expression. Medellin has become a wonderful melting pot that combines all forms of expression and the verbal alchemy rejuvenated epic poetry, current and vital. All these virtues promote both new generations and the collective imagination. It's actually a two-way benefit because the poets also receive a transformative effect on their attitude is as if to regain hope in something that felt immersed in the arid and silence. Because it is a fact that in most countries the poets experience a very limited circulation and little perceived their poetry. The fact that so many works are known to converge and enrich the movement of poetic writing and makes the city a world stage where it becomes apparent the work of the poets of the world. Another act of globalization of the poetry inherent in the Festival, is the existence of a web page that allows permanent contact with readers in 180 countries. This

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communicative action has come closer to the public poets and readers around the world, in this perspective is known to a worldwide audience continues to grow the Festival website, launched in 1997, reaching between September 2007 and May 2010, the figure of 830,407 readers, to confirm not only greatly impact their ability to Colombian society but to the international network of poets, poetry festivals and projects in the world, twenty years after its founding in April 1991. In turn web visitors the Festival on YouTube have been 1,352,328, from April 2007. These statistics are a sign of the impact of the Festival in the poetic and spiritual life at global level. En the context of poetry festival achieved the creation of World Poetry Movement-WPM-(www.wpm2011.org) established under the World Meeting of heads of 37 international poetry festivals, held in Medellin, Colombia in 2011. They discussed the relationship between poetry and peace, reconstruction of the human spirit, reconciliation and recovery of nature, unity and cultural diversity of peoples, poverty and justice poetic material and possible actions to take towards the globalization of poetic action. It is currently conformed by 117 international poetry festivals, 103 poetry projects and 1.232 poets from 134 countries. Our website currently receives between 1,300 to 1,500 visitors, and the Prometheus Web Magazine on YouTube has been recognized by 1,350,000 people in the last four years. 3.2.3 For 1000 Years of Peace in Colombia Colombia is experiencing one of the greatest humanitarian tragedies of the Earth. The world is just detecting this catastrophe. The Colombian people are victims of a war that has gone on for over half a century, making it one of the longest wars in human history, and the oldest war being waged in the XXI century, affecting political stability in South America. This conflict has claimed more than one million lives, and it has left behind an even higher amount of population wounded, maimed, disappeared, imprisoned and exiled. More than four million Colombians have been displaced from their land, (about fourth million hectares), now in the hands of warlords. Colombia, which has two oceans and has access to the Amazon rainforest, is a huge pot of gold, silver, diamonds, gemstones, iron, coal, uranium and coltan. It also has enormous oil wealth. But 60% of its population is poor, while 11% is destitute. Currently the Colombian government and the FARC are advancing dialogue processes in the pursuit of peace in Havana (Cuba). Poetry, deeply inspired by the need for peace in the world, is set to transform and renew the human spirit, reminding people of the Earth their ancient roots, the immemorial demand of fulfilling poetic justice, the protection of nature and the natural calling for spiritual unity and solidarity in the world.

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The festival will be dedicated to the poetic experience for the re-signification of Myth as memory that is foundational knowledge and of Utopia as acting reality that leads to a new humanism, freed from all the mistakes that sunk us into inequality and exclusion. Myth as the supplier of a great legacy that must be preserved because it reminds us of the original flame that lights the path to the human experience reconciled with the world and its gifts, included in the processes of cultural growth and social justice. 4. STRUCTURE OF THE INTERNATIONAL POETRY FESTIVAL The 23º International Poetry Festival of Medellín will be held between July 6 and 13, 2013, and its activity schedule can be summarized as follows: 4.1 Readings: Poetry readings by guest poets from the five continents. These readings are of two types: group readings of four to five poets, and individual readings with a dialogue or discussion board between the poets and the audience. 4.1.1 Venues: The Festival’s events will be held in closed and open-air auditoriums, streets, parks, working-class neighborhoods and displaced persons’ camps, universities, libraries, theatres, trade union and cooperative headquarters, schools, cultural centres, shopping malls, subway stations, museums, prisons and hospitals, both in downtown Medellín and in the suburbs and municipalities of its Metropolitan Area. Readings will also be held in municipalities of Antioquia and other cities of Colombia. 4.2 Activities of the XVII Poetry School of Medellín. These are a part of the pedagogical area of the Festival, consisting in courses, workshops, conferences and discussion panels in which different issues will be addressed, with poetry as an axis or connecting thread. These activities will be carried out by the poets, who plan, design and execute them with the aim of sharing them with people who are interested in an in-depth analysis of the subjects. In 2013, the Poetry School of Medellín will include, as special guests, aboriginal poets from different parts of the world, who will share their cosmogonies and poetical visions of the universe with a large audience of young poets, professors and students. 4.21 Venues: Universities, schools, museums and libraries. 4.3 Alternative schedule: The different activities involving participation in other areas of the arts. In this context, music concerts, theatrical monologues or stagings, film showings, sketches, performances and exhibitions are organized. All these

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activities will also have the poetic experience as their axis. In this occasion, the alternative schedule will also include a series of events whose subject will be the poetry of aboriginal peoples. Venues: Universities, schools, cinemas, theatres, museums and libraries. 4.4 Informative and editorial line: This is the edition of the memoirs of 23 º Festival two numbers corresponding to the Latin American Poetry Magazine Prometeo. It also corresponds to this line of action the conception, design, realization, edition and printing of promotional and memory material throughout the Festival. 4.5 For 1000 Years of Peace in Colombia, The peace of Colombia, a country that deeply loves poetry, will bring greater stability to the democratic processes in Latin America and therefore the world. The world poetry forces speak out for the strengthening of these peace talks for an immediate ceasefire and for the materialization of agreements leading to a state of social justice, peace, dignity and reconciliation among Colombians. 5. ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM

At the base of all the problems affecting Colombian society lie the rooted class contradictions and the clash of antagonistic forces which have historically led to violent conflict and fratricide. These precedents have involved social chaos with a direct influence on the generation of violence, alongside drug traffic and poverty – all of which promote a social atmosphere dominated by fear, degradation and exclusion. This chain of problems leads to the central issue, to wit: the vulnerability of the social fabric of the city of Medellín, of the municipalities of its metropolitan area, of the municipalities of Antioquia (the department whose capital it is) and of the cities of Colombia, which leads to dispersion, to generalized mistrust, and to very low levels of cultural and spiritual development. This in turn leads to a population of apathetic individuals, deficient in their citizenship competences, and indifferent to the problems that affect social coexistence and construction. These problems affect the population’s spirit and restrict their creative, recreational and cognitive potentialities; damage its self-transformation, and leads to socio-cultural stagnation. This puts the population in a very unstable emotional, socio-cultural and economic situation; and it is even worse for the inhabitants of the working-class neighborhoods, where antagonistic forces struggle through armed conflict between drug-trafficking gangs that strive for the territorial dominion of consumption markets and internal drug traffic in the city.

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It is precisely in view of the aforementioned central issue that the Corporación de Arte y Poesía Prometeo works year after year, and makes its contribution (through social, cultural and pedagogical action with poetry and the different artistic expressions), creating audiences that are increasingly qualified and skilled in the coexistence and building of the social fabric, with the aim of overcoming the city’s constant state of violence.

6. ANALYSIS OF THE OBJECTIVES

The specific objective was constructed on the basis of the affirmation of the central issue. This objective is preceded by four essential objectives:

Objective1: Contribute to improvement of the congregational level in a population atomized by violence and social exclusion.

Objective 2: Improvement of the cognitive level of the participating audience with little access to current affairs in the light of poetic expression.

Objective 3: Improvement of the level of convergence of the different arts around the poetic expression.

Objective 4: Improvement of the level of association between aboriginal poets and their participation to create a socio-cultural development on the basis of poetry actions.

The above objectives will be achieved on the basis of a series of results obtained though the implementation of a series of activities. These results enable the achievement of the four objectives which, in turn, enable achieving the specific objective. Once the specific objective has been achieved, i.e. once there have been reduced the levels of social disaggregation in an heterogeneous audience, summoned to 120 public scenes distributed throughout the city and its metropolitan area, there are achieved objectives such as the reduction of the levels of interpersonal mistrust, the improvement of the level of cultural development, the reduction of the communication problems, and, thus, the improvement in the levels of consensus and elucidation for the creative solution of coexistence conflicts. Once these objectives have been achieved, an essential contribution is made to the achievement of the general objective, which is the improvement of congregations and meetings, which build the social fabric through the uniting and inclusive capacity of poetry and art.

7. ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES AND JUSTIFICATION OF THE INTERVENTION CHOSEN

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7.1 Chosen alternative: The pertinent and fitting alternative is to intervene the socio-cultural space directly, summoning the audiences (which are more qualified and diverse each year, both socially and culturally) in the most inclusive and extended manner in all the city of Medellín, in the municipalities of Antioquia and in the cities of Colombia where the interventions are carried out. This alternative has been successful year after year, and in this twenty-second issue of the Festival, the earth has been nurtured for twenty-one years to give rise to a richer instance of experience and knowledge on the social impact of poetry and art. 7.2 Justification on the basis of the luminous experience of poetry as a social, cultural and spiritual cohesion factor With the Festival, that cohesion force becomes tangible which protects us from total disaggregation, from the abrupt separation that would condemn us to ostracism. That has been, and is, the essence of this sovereign conjunction of voices, cultures and poetic arts. This practice stands at the crossroads of art, poetry, myths, the sacred, memory and the day-to-day. In it we remember that we are a part of the same soul (in the words of William Blake). It is the dream of humankind, represented by poets from the five continents. The city is populated and consecrated to the poetic experience, with a song in many languages, thanks to the poets that come each year to this life-inspiring and hope-filling meeting. The International Poetry Festival of Medellín is an essential act that delves deep into the human soul, celebrates the luminous condition of the human being, and inscribes it into the exercise of freedom, through the powers of poetry. Its light has an impact on the awareness and perceptions of an audience for whom the spirit prospers and resists the affronts of a reality steeped in violence and degradation. At the level of its dreams, the Festival is visualized as a ceremonial centre in which poetry becomes the bridge that connects us to the sacred, to the emancipating forces of being, having its purest root in poetry, for living and transforming the inner world of those who consent to its influence. This celebration places us in a trans-historical orbit of cultures interacting through their representatives, the poets hailing from the five continents. The Festival’s dynamics generate an exulting wave of moving awareness, of language that turns on the senses and tunes emotions and perceptions. In its human and existential plenitude, the International Poetry Festival of Medellín is revealed as the bursting of the liberating spirit, as a universal sign that points to the need to integrate all the shards into which the human being has been shattered due to being subject to devastation, over-exploitation and the abuse of power. Another essential aspect which justifies the Festival’s permanence, and thus the realization of its twenty-second issue, is its educational character, due to its natural pedagogic projection, for the city reveals itself as a plural space for the convergence and appropriation of knowledge which is manifested and shared in the context of the different scheduled activities.

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The Festival’s actions constitute a contemporary pedagogy in which the protagonists are the dwellers of the city, in this case Medellín, a town of two and a half million souls which needs these educational activities that forge a new awareness and a new attitude towards the living, for peaceful coexistence and spiritual and cultural growth. This twenty-two-year-long experience enables us to project a new stage in the development of the International Poetry Festival of Medellín as a proactive and proposal-making actor aimed at a society which is en route to existential, spiritual and cultural plenitude. Insofar as this purpose is fulfilled, we will be dealing with deeper transformations which will prepare the nurturing earth for the sprouting of the seed of a human race that is freer, more like its dreams, more like its dignity, which has been compromised by the contingencies of a history of affronts and attacks on the spirit. The cognitive acquisitions promoted by the Festival are demonstrated by a population with more poetry referents and able to assess the status of poetic expressions at a worldwide level. Because knowledge that is obtained through the poetic experience comes from a source intimately linked to the collective subconscious, associated to the words’ rhythms, which unleashes new ways of perceiving the world through an expansion of awareness towards the messages given by current events and universal archetypes. Thus the city enters into the dynamics of learning and self-discovery of its creative potential, which liberates through the word elevated to the levels of song – of the verbal expression that gives dignity and opens paths of light for the conscience. (Additionally, the International Poetry Festival of Medellín has become the seed for a universal poetic force. On July 4 to 8, 2011, it hosted the World Meeting of International Poetry Festival Directors, and within that context it propounded and argued the imperious need to create a World Poetry Movement. That is how World Poetry Movement –WPM– (www.wpm2011.org) came into being; as of today (September 12, 2011) it includes 104 international poetry festivals, 70 international poetry projects and 630 poets from 120 countries on Earth. WPM is a dynamic, orbital projection movement, and will warmly accompany humankind’s presence in the near future, in defence of all life on Earth). 7.2.1 Complementary justification in intervention: In this perspective, this project is also meaningful because: *With these congregational practices, organized around the educational capacity of poetry, respect towards others is promoted, because a joyful and cooperative exchange teaches people to respect the diversity and individuality of each person. *According to the schedule, the citizenship competences of the audience are strengthened, because the subjects and activities carry in them the vision of an

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environment having the civic values that lead to coexistence, equity and solidarity, through the appreciation and practice of the poetic and artistic creation. *It contributes to the socio-cultural and educational development of the project’s coverage area. *The poetry readings, pedagogic activities and alternative activities of the Festival promote reading and writing, creating a reading individual, more qualified for performing in the social and productive world. *The activities to be carried out enable a better development of cognitive capabilities for the creative use of language. *The conjunction of poetic, drama, musical, recreational, plastic and audiovisual expressions enable a more comprehensive education of the attending audience. *The Festival’s happy, multicultural and creative environment has a positive influence on the self-esteem of audiences from the afflicted areas, who lack affection and moral support, since they generally belong to dysfunctional families. *The audience’s communication skills are enhanced, thus preparing a citizen-oriented, creative future, with comprehensive training and capacity for leadership. Through this socio-cultural, artistic and pedagogic action of poetry and the different arts in their aim to develop and qualify the social fabric, this project recovers the congregational practices as a tool for the socialization, protection, transformation and development of society in its action coverage zones.

8. INTERVENTION LOGICS

8.1 General objective To contribute to qualify and quantify the congregation and the meeting, which build the social fabric through the uniting and inclusive capacity of poetry and art.

8.2 Specific objective To contribute to reduce the levels of social disaggregation in a heterogeneous audience, summoned to 120 public scenes distributed throughout the city and its metropolitan area.

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Intermediate objectives whose fulfilment implies the fulfilment of the specific objective: Objective 1: To contribute to qualify and quantify the congregational level in a population atomized by violence and social exclusion.

Objective 2: To contribute to increase the cognitive level of the participating audience with little access to current affairs in the light of poetic expression. Objective 3: Improvement of the level of convergence of the different arts around the poetic expression. Objective 4: Improvement of the level of association and understanding between poets to create a socio-cultural development on the basis of poetry actions and consolidate the identity of the peoples.

RESULTS FOR FULFILLIN GOBJECTIVES 1, 2, 3 and 4 RESULTS FOR OBJECTIVE 1: To contribute to qualify of the congregational level in a population atomized by violence and social exclusion. 1.1 Strengthened human qualities for a significant number of people who nurture an increasing participative awareness, placing themselves in a humanistic context of comprehension of the creative and civilizing powers of the poetic word. 2.1 Reduced social apathy between persons summoned to the Festival’s events. 3.1 Improved quality of the events that enhance the social fabric. 4.1 Audience’s enhanced capabilities for the practice of pluralism and multiculturalism in the light of the world’s poetic expressions. Activities for achieving the results relating to objective 1: 1. Performing 120 poetry readings in the city of Medellín and its metropolitan area, in 10 municipalities of Antioquia and in 10 cities of Colombia. 2. Hiring 65 renowned and high quality poets for performing the poetry readings and the pedagogic activities whose effects shall encourage the continuous attendance of participants at future Festivals and attendance at the permanent activities throughout the year. 3. Organizing poetry readings, alternative schedules and pedagogic activities in 90 public and cultural scenes in the city.

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4. Summoning the inhabitants of the city of Medellín and of 5 municipalities of the metropolitan area, through 200,000 hand-out programs and 5,000 posters and promotional videos in the national, regional and local TV. The press, radio, TV and Internet will be used. 5. Managing with the relevant municipalities the events to be performed in the context of the Festival, and carry out the summons. 6. Managing with the relevant Colombian cities the events to be performed in the context of the Festival and plan the summoning with delegate poets from each city. RESULTS FOR OBJECTIVE 2: To contribute to increase the cognitive level of the participating audience with little access to current affairs in the light of poetic expression.

2.1 Improved access –in a significant number of people– to essential issues of the creation of poetry, intimately connected to our evolution in the contemporary world. 2.2 Built spaces for congregation and participation, where many people may have access to knowledge and in-depth experience of poetry issues, with the existential problems of human beings in the modern world as background. 2.3 Improved progress in the construction of a comprehensive being, capable of enriching his/her environment and of projecting his/her knowledge into a social context in need of transformation. Activities for achieving these results: Holding the XVII International Poetry School of Medellín, this implies:

1. Teaching 8 courses of four hours each; 15 workshops of two hours each; giving 6

conferences of one hour each; and holding 5 panels of one and a half hour each.

2. Selecting 35 poets to perform the activities.

3. Managing the venues.

4. Making a 20-hour filmed record.

5. Making a photographic record.

RESULTS FOR OBJECTIVE 3: Improvement of the level of convergence of the different arts around the poetic expression.

3.1 Improved quality and summoning capacity of the artistic groups. 3.2 Reduced difficulties of consolidating an alternative schedule around the axis of the poetry of aboriginal peoples.

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3.3 Improved coverage, in the alternative schedule, which enables minority ethnic groups’ access to the knowledge of poetry. Activities for achieving these results: 1. Inviting artists from other areas of the arts, to give the general schedule more pluralism, diversity and richness – and also to be more inclusive as regards the participation of other artistic expressions. 2. Hiring 4 music bands of high quality and different styles. 3. Managing and selecting 5 films from among full-length films whose theme is the poetry of aboriginal peoples and documentaries on the life and works of some fundamental poets of the history of poetry, which shall be shown in parks and closed auditoriums of libraries and cultural centres. RESULTS FOR OBJECTIVE 4: Improvement of the level of association between poets and to create a socio-cultural development on the basis of poetry actions and consolidate the identity of the Latin American peoples.

4.1 Improved dialogue and understanding between poets. 4.2 There is a willingness to share the work for socio-cultural development between poets and activist poets. 4.3 Consolidated actions for contributing to the strengthening of the spiritual and cultural identity trough poetry. Activities for achieving these results: 1. Organizing the attendance of poets and activist poets from several countries. 2. managing the venue and logistics for the “Confluences towards the spiritual and cultural cohesion of poets from different countries” meeting. 3. Selecting and organizing the attendance of the poets who will participate in the meeting. OTHER RESULTS FOR FULFILLING THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE 1. Improved quality of translations from the different languages into Spanish. 2. Improved Festival’s reports for future dissemination and pedagogic uses. 3. Enhanced international reach of the International Poetry Festival of Medellín. 4. Re-enhanced Festival dissemination strategies. 5. Consolidated permanence of pedagogic activities addressed to people who stated in the survey that they continued with the ongoing educational processes after the Festival.

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Activities for achieving the above results: 1. Consolidating a team of 10 translators for translating works from 6 languages into Spanish and translating 10 to 15 poems into Spanish of all participant poets and one poem in English of each invited poet. 2. Inviting 10 artists from other areas of the arts in order to give the general schedule more pluralism, diversity and richness – and also to be more inclusive as regards the participation of other artistic expressions. 3. Printing 2,000 copies of the printed reports, with poems (in Spanish and English and a poem in the author’s original language) 4. Taking 2,000 photographs for the photographic report of the event. 5. Shooting 130 hours of the Festival’s events and activities. 6. Recording the voices of the 100 poets in their respective interventions. 7. Editing 5 dissemination and pedagogic videos of the Festival’s events. 8. Performing a poetry reading with a high level of attendance, in preparation for the Festival, in June 2013. 9. Broadcasting of short video-poems in national and local TV during the months preceding the Festival. 10. Live broadcasting of the opening and closing in national TV, and of one Festival event a day in the Internet. 11. Live and/or non-live poetry readings in different national and regional TV channels and in radio stations of the city, within the context of the Festival 12. Poetry workshops, readings and interventions in the city, with and for the audience of the International Poetry Festival of Medellín, in an on going manner as from August 15, 2013. Objective fulfilment indicators

For the aim: *At least 70% of attendees say that their confidence with regard to coexistence has improved. *Requests to participate in pedagogic and alternative activities have increased by at least 20%. For the objective and the intermediate objectives: *The number of people attending the scheduled activities for the first time increases by at least 30%. *At least 60% of the survey respondents express continuity and permanence. *There attends at least 40% of the people who attended the last Festival. *Approximately 1,500 people attend the XVII Poetry School.

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*Approximately 1,000 people attend the readings in other cities of Colombia. *70 renowned and high quality poets from the five continents participate. *100 renowned translators participate. * 10 skilled and highly qualified artists from other areas of the arts participate to give the general program more pluralism, diversity and richness. * 2,000 bilingual reports are printed, featuring works of the participating poets. * 2,000 photographs of all the Festival’s events are taken. * 200 hours are filmed of the events and activities of the Festival, in order to publish dissemination and pedagogic videos. *The voices of the poets are recorded during the respective poetry readings. * 5 dissemination and pedagogic videos of the Festival’s events are published. * 4 music bands participate with their respective concerts. *There are shown 5 films about poetry- and documentary-related issues regarding some poets important to the history of poetry. *Exhibitions about the poetry culture of 3 guest countries are organized. *A poetry reading with a high level of attendance, is performed in preparation for the event. *A promotional video is broadcast through national television networks. *The opening and closing are broadcast live through national television networks. *Workshops are taught to 100 people during September, October and November of 2011. Verification sources *Consult results of the survey carried out by qualified staff *Consult the registration logs *Consult the institutions managing the cultural scenes *Consult the results of the past survey and compare them with those of the 2013 survey *Results of the survey carried out *Observe results of the counting performed by qualified staff *Counting, certified by each venue, supported by photographs *Review the evidence available in the executing entity (registration log), counting. *Review the supporting documents *Review the poets’ résumés *Recordings and supporting documents *Supporting documents about the translators’ experience *Background for each artist *Documentary proofs, such as receipts of service hiring *Verification of physical evidences *Documentary proofs for contracts *Filmic and photographic records *Documentary proofs from the respective events’ venues *Verification in the Internet *Record of worldwide publications *Filmic and photographic record of the event

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*Documentary proof from television networks *Registered attendees’ records 9. IDENTIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF BENEFICIARIES AND OTHER INVOLVED ACTORS Approximately 150,000 people from all social strata, is a mixed audience of young people, students, workers, executives, professionals, local poets, people moving from other cities and countries, cultural managers, teachers, workers, housewives, unemployed, children, adolescents, elderly and in general we can state that all of society is represented in the audience that with determination and lucid injected light, vitality and oxygen to the acts of the festival. They are also beneficiaries of the 23º International Poetry Festival of Medellin guest poets, staff hired for the development of activities, institutions or companies required for the organization and the Corporation of Art and Poetry Prometheus. Public participation has shown in recent years participation in all possible ranges. In 2010 showed the following participation rates, and such behaviour is expected to be repeated in 2013 with a slight increase in male participation, because this year the World Cup variable probably did withdraw its presence some percentage of this genre: 1. By gender: Male: 48.46%. Female: 51.54% 2. Children: 2.67% 3. Girls: 3.48% 4. Young men (16 to 30 years): 26.46% 5. Young women (16 to 30 years): 29.32% 6. Adult men (31 and up): 18.73% 7. Adult women (31 and up): 19.32% 9.1 Participation analysis/ Analysis of involved parties

STAGE 1 Involved party analysis Involved parties Main interests Impact of project on interests Primary

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120,000 inhabitants of Medellín and its Participating in an inclusive manner + Metropolitan Area (Heterogeneous population) Guest poets Fulfilling the objective + Guest artists Having better support for performing + their work Venue promoting institutions Improving the quality of services + Alternative schedule Being an active part of the culture + promoting institutions Secondary Executing entity Designing a feasible proposal which + shall improve the situation in the city Municipal Improving quality of living and + Administration socio-cultural development Beneficiary selection criteria Stage 2 Participation analysis Criterion: High importance Potential direct beneficiaries Low influence 50.000 inhabitants of Medellín and Metropolitan

Area (heterogeneous population) Vulnerable inhabitants Displaced by violence Potential indirect beneficiaries Low importance Neutrals / Excluded persons

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Low influence Persons with different trades who receive indirect benefits

9.2 Analysis of involved parties Criterion: Potential counterparts High importance Corporación de Arte y Poesía Prometeo High influence Municipal Administration Educational leaders in each zone Poets teaching the workshops Potential opponents Scant importance Those who recruit people for micro-drug traffic Low influence Those who promote chaos and violence 9.3 Level of beneficiary involvement and motivation

The districts’ inhabitants accept, with generosity and commitment, the cultural and pedagogical proposals that the Corporación de Arte y Poesía Prometeo has made in the course of the last twenty-one years through the International Poetry Festival of Medellín and through the poetry creation workshops it has taught in marginal neighbourhoods scourged by social conflict, which are addressed to children, youths, adults and teachers. This means that it has both credibility and the ability to summon people. Through our contact and experience with the target population, we know that there is a high level of involvement and motivation in the beneficiaries.

10. LEVEL OF LOCAL PARTICIPATION IN THE PROJECT

The Municipality of Medellín is the greatest contributor to the International Poetry Festival of Medellín and has included this program in the Municipality’s Development Plan.

In previous years Prometeo worked with the Municipality’s Education Secretariat in teaching workshops for the appreciation of poetry and education methodology for teachers. Currently, our management work is focused on obtaining the support of other municipal entities, such as the Social Welfare Secretariats, for Prometeo’s

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pedagogic programs, in order to consolidate and strengthen the beneficial effect of poetry on the young population of Medellín.

11. TECHNOLOGIES EMPLOYED AND ADJUSTMENT TO ENVIRONMENT

There will be used printed and digital materials, videos, films, different materials for developing the visual, musical, drama and corporal expression of children, video beams and digital cameras.

12. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

It will contribute to the making of a constructive impact on the environment, as the attitude of preserving life will be encouraged. Poetry has made very important contributions to the valuation and aesthetic elevation of nature, life and living beings in general. Obviously the impact on the environment will not be one of ecosystem destruction – on the contrary, it is materialized on a social ecology that promotes environmental ecology on the basis of poetic sensitivity.

13. GLOBAL PROJECT ASSESSMENT

Contribution to the development of the region and the promotion of the region’s Millennium Development Objectives.

This project contributes very significantly to the region’s development, because it is setting guidelines for intervention through the powers of poetic and artistic expression, to improve the social fabric, where it is possible to create a citizen more qualified for a worthy performance in the world and in life. In this context, a contribution is being made to the strengthening and improvement of the socio-cultural and artistic development processes of the direct beneficiaries.

14. FEASIBILITY / SUSTAINABILITY STUDY

14.1 Socio-cultural factors

The socio-cultural environment has the conditions necessary for the project to become sustainable during its execution and in the time following the cooperating entity’s contribution, since the problem being “intervened” is at the crux of the

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priorities for benefiting a population vulnerable to the conflicts that threaten survival in the districts of the city of Medellín. From this viewpoint, there is a legal framework for socio-cultural intervention in the general culture law, the General Education Law and the Millennium Development Objectives at the local level (“Towards a just and inclusive Colombia”) formulated at the UNDP for Colombia. Specifically, the project helps to transform precarious conditions in the cultural development of a population who suffers restrictions in overcoming social exclusion, poverty and violence. The constancy and continuity in this purpose will lead to the creation of a citizen qualified in his/her communication skills, which shall enable a constructive, debate-oriented and proactive level of social participation in the objective of social, cultural and artistic transformation. The Corporación de Arte y Poesía Prometeo is based on this transformative action of poetry, and its daily work is committed to the sustainability of this transformative capability through local, national and international alliances. The facts set out in the background chapters demonstrate this.

14.2 Economic and financial factors

The Corporación de Arte y Poesía Prometeo is capable of managing the resources that will enable it to sustainably attend to the development problem. The economic factor is determined by its ongoing quest for resources before international entities, embassies, cooperation agencies, private foundations and Colombian government agencies. The economic analysis describes the project as sustainable.

The financial factor is determined by the teaching of workshops to be managed through an agreement with the Municipal Education Secretariat. Alliances are also established with other cultural institutions (both private and public). From the financial viewpoint the project is sustainable during and after its execution.

14.3 Economic context of the project

The economic context of the project is structured on international cooperation contributions and local contributions, both in economic and in technical and human resources. The project is economically sustained through inter-institutional management that is local as well as international (embassies, foundations and cooperation agencies).

14.4 Availability of the local resources

Relations with the local entities are good, thanks to the different actions influencing the socio-cultural transformation of the city of Medellín. This level of reliability has been achieved through constant work, generating important contributions to the spiritual and cultural growth of the population of Medellín since 1991. From this viewpoint, relations with entities both public and private, for obtaining and giving value to local resources, are healthy and strong.

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The city’s poets and artists are also willing to participate in the social intervention events structured around the transforming capacity of poetry.

14.5 Financing capacity

The defining feature of the Corporación de Arte y Poesía Prometeo is its rigor and transparency in resource management. This has given it great credibility from the Cooperating Institutions. An ongoing management role is thus assumed, enabling the sustainability of all the projects in process. There are also some annual allocations from the municipal administrations and some government agencies such as the Ministry of Culture. Their contributions cover only a part of the economic resources needed for everything to proceed according to the schedules and strategic plans.

14.6 Attitude of local authorities

In the last eight years, the local authorities have been more receptive, open and collaborative regarding the proposals of the Corporación de Arte y Poesía Prometeo, considering the International Poetry Festival of Medellín, one of our central projects, as part of the Municipal Development Plan. This is due to our ongoing, committed work, as well as to the results regarding the poetry social actions, which build social fabric and generate audiences active in the cultural and spiritual renewal ofthe city of Medellín.

15. LOCAL ISSUES

The Corporación de Arte y Poesía Prometeo is wholly committed to the socio-cultural and spiritual transformation of the city of Medellín since the founding of the International Poetry Festival of Medellín in 1991 – a core event in the organizational context, whose influence on the population is shown by the mass attendance to all its activities. Through this event, the most marginal places in the city have been reached, and its great capacity for congregation and construction of social and cultural fabric has enabled a close knowledge of the problems of the marginal population with scant participation in local cultural processes. This event and its capacity for summoning people have given more inclusiveness to many educational activities. The project’s beneficiaries always assume with great commitment, pleasure and receptive and creative willingness the proposals relating to poetry’s pedagogic projection. The relations of the Corporación de Arte y Poesía Prometeo with some local institutions, both official and private, have been smooth and involved a real exchange

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regarding the fulfilment of the actions undertaken at the local level, such as poetry creation workshops, poetry reading cycles with renowned poets who interact with attendees, and poetry workshops for children and teachers. Young values in poetic expression are also encouraged. It is evident how the city’s poetic culture has improved, as well as the evolution, both cognitive and spiritual, of an audience that becomes more qualified year after year.